So, Oscar sleeps in bed with us (please don’t tell Cesar Millan).  No, y’know what?  Go ahead and tell the Dog Whisperer, because having my pup snuggle up in the crook of my arm pit and fall asleep is one of my favorite parts of being a dog owner.  There, I’ve said it!

Anyway, Oscar can’t get into bed by himself, so when he wants to get in, he will just come around to the side of the bed, stand up on his hind legs and poke his head up as if to say, “Okay, I’m ready to join you.  Please pick me up now”.  If you don’t acknowledge him after 30 seconds or so, he will paw softly at the bed a few times, just to make sure you know that he’s there.  (Of course, you must not have seen him, because why else wouldn’t you already have come over and picked him up???)

That part is okay, it’s a little bit of a pain if he decides to hop out of bed to go get one last drink before bed or check out a noise when you’re already settled.  But, no biggie.  What makes me nervous is Oscar jumping OUT of bed.  Especially since he’s put on a few extra pounds this winter and he has such scrawny little legs.  I’ve been super worried that he’s going to hurt himself.

 So, I finally decided that since we’ve already broken all the “pack leader” rules in regards to the bed, we might as well get pet steps so at least the situation will be more safe and convenient.  Unfortunately, if you take a look at the options out there…pet steps are pretty crappy looking overall.  I was extremely hesitant to buy some cheap plastic or foam set of steps, especially since I’ve finally convinced my husband to exchange all of his terrible post-college hand-me-down furniture for some grown-up furniture!

So, I finally found Mr. Herzher’s Decorative Pet Steps and I think you’ll agree that they’re pretty good looking.

Unfortunately, they were pretty expensive ($99.99 for the 2-step model, $129.99 for the 3-step model) and not terrific quality.  One of the side panels was cracked in several places in the first set of steps that I ordered.  (Fortunately, since I ordered through Amazon, the exchange wasn’t too much of a hassle.)  You have to assemble the steps yourself and you definitely have to use the glue they provide - I tried to assemble without the glue at first and the steps rattled like crazy when Oscar ran up and down them.

Anyway, after a little hassle and a lot of dough, I think we have a solution that is safe for Oscar and looks okay.  But, I think there’s a huge opportunity for someone to come in and launch a competitive high-end pet step!

One last note…it’s so funny how Oscar keeps trying to revert back to his old ways of getting in and out of bed.  We showed him how to use the new steps by luring him with treats up and down, but he still keeps jumping off and coming over to the side of the bed to be picked up.  It’s been about a week and a half and I think he finally gets “UP”, but “DOWN” has really been a challenge!  We’re going to keep at it though!